Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

State officials stake out positions on implementing health law

Virginia's Republican attorney general, the first to file suit against the health law, takes a hardline position against expanding Medicaid, while Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, a Republican, signals his state will pass on setting up a state-based health exchange. In Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, issues an executive order to authorize such an exchange.

19 Jul 2012

Opponents see possible avenues to send health law back to court

But in related news, a federal judge in Nebraska rejected a suit filed by seven states to block the measure's contraception coverage mandate, saying the states did not have standing to file it because they failed to prove they would suffer "immediate harm."

19 Jul 2012

Escalating Miss. abortion fight could be blueprint for similar challenges

State health inspectors inspect Mississippi's only abortion clinic -- the first step towards shutting it down-- while a judge considers whether to let the law stand. Meanwhile, anti-abortion activists hone in on other states with single abortion providers to see if they can use similar approaches to shut them down, Politico Pro reports.

19 Jul 2012

States opting-out of health law's Medicaid expansion likely to see downside

After several state officials announced their intention to reject the expansion -- and the federal funds that come with it -- news outlets report on possible implications, including costs to county taxpayers, businesses and people who would go without health benefits.

19 Jul 2012

House GOP advances Labor-HHS appropriations bill that blocks health law funding

The proposed spending bill includes language preventing the use of federal dollars to "implement, administer or further" the Affordable Care Act. A number of other programs and agencies -- including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality -- are targeted for termination.

19 Jul 2012

Seasonal firefighters now eligible for federal health coverage after Obama directive

Seasonal firefighters -- many working on containing wildfires in the West -- became eligible for federal health insurance coverage Tuesday after President Obama issued an executive order last week.

19 Jul 2012

Though seemingly beneficial, large ACO groups that influence doctor decisions could prove risky

Critics are worried that the concept of accountable care organizations could backfire, HealthyCal reports.

19 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Texas' indifference to health needs for the poor; Sen. Grassley says IRS is too busy to deal with health law

The state with the country's worst health care record just happens to have a governor who has been the loudest voice against national efforts to improve it. A quarter of the residents of Texas, 6.3 million people, are uninsured, by far the highest percentage in the country. ... Yet Gov. Rick Perry - strangely puffed up as he was so often in his presidential bid - recently told the Obama administration that he would proudly refuse a huge infusion of Medicaid money that would significantly reduce those shameful statistics and cover 1.7 million more people.

18 Jul 2012

Female health workers must lift less

The development of persistent low back pain can be prevented by reducing frequent lifting and carrying of moderate or heavy loads with a bent back, say researchers.

18 Jul 2012

Obama defends health law in Ohio town hall meeting

President Obama says he doesn't mind the "Obamacare" label and is chastising Republican Mitt Romney for not championing the Massachusetts health overhaul.

18 Jul 2012

Health law opponents sharpen fight focus on insurance tax credit

According to news reports, critics have pinpointed this part of the health law in their effort to undo the sweeping overhaul. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that very few middle-income taxpayers will pay more as a result of the measure's taxes, fees and penalties.

18 Jul 2012

State roundup: Mass. to allow coupons for some branded drugs

Johns Hopkins Hospital lost its coveted spot as the nation's top-ranked hospital for the first time in 22 years, edged out by Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in the latest analysis by U.S. News & World Report to be released Tuesday. Hopkins still ranked No. 2, and marketing experts said falling one spot will hurt the hospital's ego more than its reputation.

18 Jul 2012

Drug coverage issues, dual eligibles program draw Democrats' interest

According to these stories from Politico and Politico Pro, some House Democrats are calling on the Department Of Health and Human Services to use the Medicare prescription drug program as a model for the health law's essential health benefits drug coverage requirement.

18 Jul 2012

Study: Medicare payment adjustments could take toll on safety net hospitals

A change in Medicare hospital payments, which is based on quality and scheduled to kick in this October, could add to the financial problems faced by facilities that treat largely the poor and uninsured.

18 Jul 2012

PPAHS releases safety checklist that targets Patient-Controlled Analgesia

The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS), an advocacy group devoted to improving patient health and safety, today announced the release of a concise checklist that reminds caregivers of the essential steps needed to be taken to initiate Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA) with a patient and to continue to assess that patient's use of PCA.

18 Jul 2012

Advocates, policy experts respond to FDA approval of Truvada for HIV prevention

Though the FDA's Monday approval of the antiretroviral drug Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV infection among people at risk of contracting the virus "was hailed by many as an important step in the fight against AIDS, concerns that people will incorrectly use the drug -- potentially spurring drug resistance -- led others to blast the agency for not laying down tougher rules," the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" writes.

18 Jul 2012

GE Healthcare announces final results from [18F]flutemetamol phase 3 study on AD

GE Healthcare today announced the final results from a phase 3 study of the investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol in terminally ill patients who had agreed to undergo postmortem brain autopsy.

18 Jul 2012

Risk of birth defects linked to certain jobs dads do

Several types of job carried out by future fathers may be linked to an increased risk of birth defects in their babies, suggests research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

18 Jul 2012

Patient autonomy crucial to achieving health goals

Supporting patient autonomy in healthcare leads to positive health outcomes, suggesting that self-determination theories should become the foundation for developing interventions in healthcare promotion, say UK researchers.

17 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Calif. could take a lesson from Wis. reforms; Republican advocates a 'Nixon to China' embrace of Medicare for all

The state's teachers union, Wisconsinites learned, had used its power to collectively bargain for healthcare benefits to demand that local school districts provide coverage through a nonprofit insurer affiliated with the union. Once the state ended bargaining on healthcare, school boards began competitively bidding out their health insurance. By the opening of the new school year in September, just two months after the budget bill went into effect, 23 districts had rebid their contracts, saving $16 million, or an average of $211 per student.

17 Jul 2012